Planetary Resources’ mission is mine near-Earth asteroids for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals. Through the development of cost-effective exploration technologies, the company is poised to initiate prospecting missions targeting resource-rich asteroids that are easily accessible.

Resource extraction from asteroids will deliver multiple benefits to humanity and could be valued at billions of dollars annually. The effort will tap into the high concentration of precious metals found on asteroids and provide a sustainable supply to the ever-growing population on Earth.

The company was founded by space visionary Peter H. Diamandis, M.D. and leading commercial space entrepreneur Eric Anderson, and is supported by an impressive investor and advisor group, including Google’s Larry Page & Eric Schmidt, Ph.D.; film maker & explorer James Cameron; Chairman of Intentional Software Corporation and Microsoft’s former Chief Software Architect Charles Simonyi, Ph.D.; Founder of Sherpalo and Google Board of Directors founding member K. Ram Shriram; and Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group Ross Perot, Jr.

This one is for Walk, I know that he’s posted stuff about Fracking (not as dirty as it sounds). Plus, as a geologist who works for those oil companies I know that he’d like this bit. So Walt, ol’ buddy, this one’s for you!

If you haven’t then perhaps you should simply stay way, stay far, far away. Never heard of ChatRoulette? Don’t worry, you don’t really want to know, but since you are obviously still reading this post, let’s talk about this for a bit. From the little I know about it is that ChatRoulette is a new website that brings users (with computers and webcams) face-to-face, via with an endless stream of random strangers all over the world. The “Roulette” pare come s in that when you are bored (or freaked out) by your chat buddy, you simply hit “F9″ and spin to a new partner.

Well, all the news electronic news media is reporting on this (because, as we all know, there is no war going on in either Afghanistan or Iraq, and they have to fill 24/7 air time with something).

Tonight, Jon Stewart finally—and hilariously—jumped on the Chatroulette bandwagon. Stewart mocked the media’s obsession with the Internet’s newest fad, before trying it out himself—and running into Diane Sawyer, Keith Olbermann, Katie Couric, Brian Williams and more. Here are screengrabs of all his best encounters (they were real). [CLICK HERE] to see full video of the epic segment

NASA has confirmed the discovery of a new hole the size of the Earth in Jupiterâ€™s atmosphere, apparently showing that the planet was hit by something large in recent days. The impact mark was first spotted on Monday morning by an amateur astronomer in Australia, who then drew the attention of scientists at NASAâ€™s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the dark mark on Jupiterâ€™s south polar region.

Glenn Orton, a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said â€œIt could be the impact of a comet, but we donâ€™t know for sure yet.â€

Mr. Orton told New Scientist magazine that the planet could have been hit by a block of ice or a comet that was too faint for astronomers to detect before the impact. Leigh Fletcher, an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Lab told the magazine the impact scar â€œis about the size of the Earth.â€

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley, a 44-year-old computer programmer from a village north of Canberra, made the discovery â€œusing his backyard 14.5-inch reflecting telescope.â€ The Herald explained: â€œWesley, who has been keen on astronomy since he was a child, said telescopes and other astronomy equipment were so inexpensive now that the hobby had become a viable pastime for just about anybody. His own equipment cost about $10,000.â€

Sure weâ€™ve been joking about the resulting cataclysmic disaster here on Cuppa, but itâ€™s all fun and games until a planet-sized comet hits the Earth. Still, the good news is, that if we have even a 30-day warning, then not only will you be able to not worry about paying your bills ever again, but you are going to witness the biggest Bacchus Festival the world has ever seen.